Roll Call

The House : Uniform Poll Closing

By a vote of 238 for and 154 against, the House passed a bill requiring polls to close at the same time in presidential elections in all states except Alaska and Hawaii. The bill was sent to the Senate. Voting would end at 9 p.m. EST, 8 p.m. CST and 7 p.m. MST. In the Pacific zone, where daylight-saving time would be extended by the bill to encompass presidential Election Day, polls would also close at 7 p.m.; that extension would occur only in presidential election years.

The purpose of the bill is to get around what many say is the problem of some Westerners deciding not to vote after hearing network commentators project winners based on results from states where polls have closed.

Supporter James Quillen (R-Tenn.) said it was "unfair ... that the East Coast should announce the results of an election to the West Coast before the polls are closed there."

Opponent Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.) called the bill "a Rube Goldberg device which will louse up the states ... in order to attack a problem which does not exist."

Members voting yes support uniform poll closing in the lower 48 states on presidential Election Day.